1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag of a vehicle, and more particularly, to an airbag of a vehicle which can reduce injury of an occupant by sequentially supporting the deployment of the cushion, rather than controlling the deployment of the cushion once at a given instant, by improving the shape and coupling structure of outer tethers.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, an airbag is installed to protect the face, chest, etc. of an occupant in the event of a vehicle collision. Usually, such an airbag is designed and mounted with reference to a standard size of an adult male.
Thus, an occupant whose body size is different from a normal one cannot be afforded full optimal protection from the air bag, and in some cases may be injured by the airbag.
Especially, a condition in which the occupant will be most injured upon deployment of the airbag, among various conditions that may occur in addition to the condition of a standard body size, is referred to as “Out-Of-Position (OOP)” condition.
Further, to suit the OOP condition, a dual bag or an outer tether having a special function are under improvement to attain an optimal condition. The outer tether is also used to improve the OOP condition, and generally referred to as an “Occupant Protection Flap (OPF)”. The outer tether functions to weaken the initial deployment force of the cushion by being covered and supported on the outer side of the cushion in order to avoid a given part of the cushion from being aggressively deployed toward the occupant when deployed upon receipt of a deployment gas injected from an inflator, that is, in order to protect the occupant from getting injured by preventing an out-of-force phenomenon, then reduces injury of the occupant by directing the deployment of the cushion to both sides, and then is normally deployed as the tear line is torn to provide a normal airbag function for an occupant.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a deployment state of an airbag of a vehicle according to the conventional art. FIG. 2 is an elevation view showing an outer tether of the airbag of the vehicle according to the conventional art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the airbag comprises a cushion 1 deployed by gas injection and an outer tether 3 whose both sides are fixed to a retainer 2 and which delays deployment while covering and supporting the outside of the cushion 1.
As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the airbag comprises a tear line 5 formed at a center side of the outer tether 3 and torn upon inflation of the cushion 1 and fixing holes 4 formed on both sides of the outer tether 3 to be coupled with the retainer 2, so that the tear line 5 is torn sequentially in spite of a deviation caused by the deployment of the cushion 1 by pulling some part of the outer tether 3 and fixing it to the retainer 2.
The cushion 1 is accommodated folded multiple times in a main panel (not shown), and disposed to communicate with a gas ejection port (not shown) of an inflator (not shown).
The outer tether 3 comprises a rectangular fabric, and is provided on both sides with a fixing portion having fixing holes 4 whose ends are coupled and fixed to the retainer 2. The outer tether 3 is assembled by fitting and fixing the fixing holes 4 to stud bolts (not shown) at both sides of the outer tether 3 that are secured to the retainer 2.
Moreover, the outer tether 3 is disposed so as to temporarily delay inflation of some part of the deployment surface upon deployment of the cushion 1 and direct the deployment of the cushion 1 to both sides of the front surface.
However, the airbag of the vehicle according to the conventional art is configured such that in case of an outer tether applied to a conventional passenger airbag, force is exerted to the entire part of the cushion upon deployment of the cushion owing to the shape and coupling structure of the outer tether. In this case, initial injury of an occupant may be reduced by blocking a portion deployed to the occupant for a certain amount of time by deployment of the cushion. However, a child sitting on a child seat may be seriously injured since the neck is pressed with a force pressing down on the child as the cushion is deployed after the function of the outer tether is over and the restraining is released. Besides, the outer tether is not fixed to a given region, and this causes the cushion to be deployed toward one side or in an unintended direction upon deployment of the cushion.